Product Description

* Advocates for interreligious dialogues on faith and reason, former Argentine Cardinal Bergoglio and Skorka, a rabbi and biophysicist, seek to build bridges between Catholicism and Judaism. Listen in as they converse on God, fundamentalism, atheism, abortion, homosexuality, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, globalization, and more. An intriguing look at the man who became Pope Francis I. 256 pages, softcover from Image.

Product Information

Publisher's Description

New York Times Bestseller!

From the man who became Pope Francis, Jorge Mario Bergoglio shares his thoughts on religion, reason, and the challenges the world faces in the 21st century with Abraham Skorka, a rabbi and biophysicist.

For years Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, archbishop of Argentina, and Rabbi Abraham Skorka were tenacious promoters of interreligious dialogues on faith and reason. They both sought to build bridges among Catholicism, Judaism, and the world at large. On Heaven and Earth, originally published in Argentina in 2010, brings together a series of these conversations where both men talked about various theological and worldly issues, including God, fundamentalism, atheism, abortion, homosexuality, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, and globalization. From these personal and accessible talks comes a first-hand view of the man who would become pope to 1.2 billion Catholics around the world in March 2013.

From the Hardcover edition.

Author Bio

JORGE MARIO BERGOGLIO, POPE FRANCIS, is the first Latin American to be elected to the chair of Peter. A native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, he was ordained as a priest in 1969. He served as head of the Society of Jesus in Argentina from 1973 to 1979. In 1998 he became the archbishop of Buenos Aires, and in 2001 a cardinal. Following the resignation of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, February 28, 2013, the conclave elected Bergoglio, who chose the papal name Francis in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. He is the first pope to be a Jesuit, to come from the Americas, and to come from the Southern Hemisphere.

ABRAHAM SKORKA is an Argentine rabbi, biophysicist, and book author. He is rector of the Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano in Buenos Aires, the rabbi of the Jewish community Benei Tikva, a professor of biblical and rabbinic literature at the Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano, and honorary professor of Hebrew law at the University of Salamanca.

Editorial Reviews

This remarkable book wonderfully demonstrates the warm and positive relationship Pope Francis has developed with Jews and Judaism. These honest and respectful exchanges between then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio and Argentinian Rabbi Abraham Skorka on a wide range of sensitive and complex topics - God, religion, fundamentalism, politics, and the Holocaust - is a model not only for Jews and Catholics but for all those seeking productive interfaith dialogue in helping to repair a broken world. -- Rabbi Eric J. Greenberg, Director, Department of Interfaith Affairs Anti-Defamation League

Whether or not they agree with everything that is said, readers of all religious backgrounds will be impressed by the substance and frankness of these conversations between Cardinal Bergolio and Rabbi Skorka. They clearly enact the call of the Second Vatican Council for "fraternal dialogues" between Catholics and Jews. This is how religious leaders should speak to one another: on the basis of sincere friendship and respect. This book will also encourage anyone who wondered if a pope from a non-European country could be personally committed to the Catholic Church's new relationship with Jews. --Philip A. Cunningham, Ph.D., Professor of Theology and Director of the Institute for Jewish-Catholic Relations, Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia

On Heaven and Earth is a a back and forth conversation between Jorge Mario Bergoglio and Abraham Skorka. This book is different in the fact that these two men come from two different religions, one is Catholic and one is Jewish. I enjoyed reading each man's views on the topics in the book. I liked the different perspective's you got. They have a mutual respect for each others beliefs and don't cross that line. My Catholic church has a inter faith service around the holidays that is Catholic and Jewish, it is a beautiful service. If your church or a local church ever has a inter faith service please go they are so pretty.

Each conversation is backed up with biblical passages that are brought up within the conversation. Each chapter ends with foot notes that list each passage that was discussed so you can look deeper into them if you would like. I thought that was great since some chapters might jump out at you and make you want to read further into the bible, to get a better understand of what Jorge and Abraham were talking about.

Each chapter is a hot button issue from politics and power to money and poverty. They also discuss issues that are in the news right now. Are you are looking for a book that is full of good conversations with interesting views and discussions that are presented in a nice non confrontational manner? On Heaven and Earth is the book for you then. I really think On Heaven and Earth is the book for just about any one. It is a book that you don't have to read cover to cover. You can hop around and read the conversations that your more interested in at the moment.

Thank you Blogging for Books for allowing me to read the ebook. I was a little skeptical at first but enjoyed it very much, and learned a lot.

This is probably one of the more "popular" books I've picked, as evidenced by having seen it on the Barnes and Noble shelf of newer releases.

This book is not so much about the new Pope as it is, obvious now, by him, like Love and Responsibility. I was just hoping this book would be a little easier. Good news: it is. More good news: you learn as much about the Pope as you would reading a biography; just not the same information.

This book is actually a dialogue between the Pope, then a cardinal, and Skorka, a rabbi. (Skorka refers to Bergoglio as "Monsignor," though.) The book was first published in 2010. If you're not paying close attention you may well forget who's speaking. Perhaps a different font for each man would've been helpful. Or the book's short enough - what about starting each man's piece on a new page?

I found it strange that two topics that I'd think would draw the most interest, abortion and divorce, are two of the shortest chapters. They left me wanting more. Then there's a lot specific to Argentina, which is of no interest.

I was looking forward, though, to Bergoglio's take on same-sex marriage. When he first became Pope and I didn't know him, I'd heard reported something he'd said about gay adoption, and I thought, "Okay. I like this guy." I was hoping he'd say the very same thing here, so I could just quote it (since I don't know exactly where he'd said it). This is basically it, but much less snappy: "Now, if the union is given the category of marriage and they are given adoption rights, there could be children affected. Every person needs a male father and a female mother that can help them shape their identity."

In the same chapter, in fact in the next paragraph, Skorka brought to mind my acquaintance Nick when he said, "When they modified the law to separate civil and religious marriage during the presidency of Raul Alfonsin, I believed they did the right thing. Before that, in order to marry a couple, we had to have the civil marriage certificate in hand. It did not make sense to me that in a democratic society there should be a connection between the civil and religious ceremonies. I prefer that these two worlds do not mix." Nick feels this way too, and when he first told me so it was the first I'd heard of that.

Those were my salient pieces, but yours will be different. I'm not taking anything away from this one, but you might.

More Info

Read Chapter One

Author Bio

"I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review."